About Michelle MCDonald
Michelle McDonald Speech-Language Therapists was established in April 2018. We opened our first practice in Hennopspark, Centurion where we mainly work with children. The therapists consult with both Afrikaans and English speaking children at the practice and at various preschools and primary schools in the area. In 2021 we opened a second practice that serves the Hartebeespoort and Brits area. Our therapists in Hartebeespoort and Brits consult with both the paediatric- and geriatric population and serve schools, preschools as well as the Brits Hospital. They are also available for consultations at the practice.
We are passionate Speech-Language Therapists and we aim to walk the extra mile with our patients to ensure that they can communicate more effectively with their communication partners.
You Got Questions?
Yes, we are able to claim from medical aids.
Contact the practice to schedule an assessment. After the assessment the therapist will schedule a feedback session to discuss the results of the assessment and to discuss the therapy plan. Hereafter we can commence with therapy.
Therapy can take place at the practice, at schools or via online therapy.
Depending on each child, the sessions are usually scheduled for once or twice a week.
This is a difficult question and we are unable to answer this question until we have assessed your child. Once we have assessed your child we will be able to provide an approximate time frame. It should be mentioned that there are various factors that will have an impact on this, for example: does the child attend therapy regularly and is the homework completed thoroughly?
The [r] sound can develop until the age of 5 years. We usually start working on the correct production of the [r] sound in the month of July in the year that your child is in grade R. The reason for this is that the incorrect production of the [r] can have a negative impact on the child’s auditory synthesis and –analysis skills.
No! It is never too early to refer a child for Speech-Language Therapy. We also work with premature babies to assist with feeding. The first three years of a child’s life is crucial for language development. Early communication intervention can assist to change a child’s developmental path and improve outcomes for the child and the family.
Parents may perceive therapy as “you are just playing with my child – I can do this at home.” Although our sessions are play-based, our sessions have been developed to address various goals through play. According to research by Dr. Karyn Purvis, scientists have discovered that it takes approximately 400 repetitions to create a new synapse in the brain, unless it is done in play, in which case it only takes 10 to 20 repetitions.